Multi-piece amortisseur winding end plate

ABSTRACT

An end plate for a squirrel cage amortisseur winding is made from four angular segments, each of the segments being of the same shape and size, the segments having portions thereof cut out along the annular inner surface and the outer edges to accommodate close nesting of the angular segments across both the width and length of a sheet of raw material to minimize waste as they are cut therefrom.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Typically, a squirrel cage amortisseur winding is built into rotors for synchronous dynamoelectric machines in order to start it and bring it up close to synchronous speed. In one design, the rotor is designed from laminations which are axially aligned and stacked, the laminations having pole pieces around which wire is wrapped to form the field windings on the rotor. In the pole pieces, a series of axially aligned holes are provided for the insertion of conductor bars which form the cage portion of the squirrel cage amortisseur winding. At each end of the lamination stack, end plates are mounted to the rotor which are electrically conductive and which are welded or otherwise secured to the conductor bars to electrically connect them to complete the electrical circuit of the winding. In the prior art, these end plates are typically cast aluminum or the like. Some prior art designs are of plate-type construction similar to a lamination. However, they are all one piece designs.

One such design in the prior art which has been used by the assignee of the present invention is a one-piece end plate which is approximately 13" in diameter and which is formed by plasma torch cutting a 4'×8' sheet of aluminum alloy 1100. The 4'×8' pre-formed sheets are the industry standard and they are made from 99% pure aluminum. Recently, the price of these sheets has escalated quite dramatically such that there is a significant amount of money in wasted material caused by laying out the one-piece, circular end plates in routine fashion across the 4' width of a standard sheet. As is apparent, three full end plates may be laid across the width of the plate, but that leaves 9" of waste material at one side of the plate. Additionally, there is waste throughout the length of the plate as seven 13" diameter end plates can be laid out in an 8' dimension which leaves 5" of waste. While some small portion of this waste can be saved by strategically positioning the circular end plates across the face of the plate, there is still quite a significant amount of waste due to the fact that the diameter of the end plate does not accommodate close spacing of the end plates to the edge of the sheet in either the width or length dimension.

To solve these and other problems in the prior art, the inventor herein has succeeded in designing and developing a multi-piece end plate for an amortisseur winding which generally consists of four angular segments, each segment being shaped exactly the same such that it forms 90° of the 360° arc of the end plate. Furthermore, and perhaps more significantly, the inventor has designed the segment such that a non-functional portion of the segment lies at each edge of its width, thereby permitting the edges to be lopped off or cropped to fit within a smaller envelope of space which can be lined up across the width of the plate to exactly 48", the industry standard for the raw material. This dramatically reduces the amount of waste over that created by cutting out in the prior art one-piece circular design. Furthermore, as only a non-functional portion of each segment is eliminated, this does not interfere with the electrical operation of the end plate. Functionally, the purpose of the end plate is to electrically connect the conductor bars forming the squirrel cage amortisseur winding. These conductor bars are positioned generally apart from a radially extending center line through each pole piece of the end plate. Thus, a substantially triangular portion of the outer edge at this center line of each pole plate can be eliminated as no conductor bars are joined to the end plate in that location.

To further reduce waste, part of the annular collar which surrounds the motor shaft is cut away such that as the segments are lined up along the length dimension of the sheet, the pole pieces of the adjoining segment overlap these annular portion cutaways. With this technique, the segments may be placed even closer together along the length of the plate which helps minimize waste in the length dimension of a standard 4'×8' sheet.

In order to facilitate assembly of four segments into a single end plate, a tab is formed along the radial center line of each pole piece which interfits into a slot in an adjacent segment, the adjacent segments may then be staked or welded to join them and thereby form a single piece end plate assembly.

While the principal advantages and features of the invention have been explained above, a more fuller understanding of the invention may be attained by referring to the drawings and description of the preferred embodiment which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a rotor of a dynamoelectric machine having an amortisseur winding and an end plate in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the rotor of FIG. 1 further detailing the multi-piece end plate assembled and mounted on a rotor; and

FIG. 3 is a layout of end plate segments detailing the close interfitting between adjacent segments which is possible with the design of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A rotor 20 for a synchronous dynamoelectric machine is shown in FIG. 1 and generally includes a core 22 made from a plurality of laminations stacked axially, the rotor core 22 having four pores 24, 26, 28, 30 around which wire is wrapped (not shown) to form the field coils. Through each pole 24-30, six conductor bars 32 extend in an axial direction through the core 22 to form the squirrel cage amortisseur winding, as is well known in the art. At each end of the core 22 is an end plate 34 of the present invention which is formed from a plurality of segments.

The end plate 34 is shown in greater detail in FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown therein, each end plate 34 is formed from four angular segments 36, 38, 40, 42, each of which extends through a 90° arc of the 360° circle formed by the end plate 34. Each of these angular segments 36-42 has a plurality of holes 44 through which the conductor bars 32 extend and are welded thereto. This secures the conductor bars 32 both mechanically and electrically to the end plate 34. Adjacent segments such as 36, 38 are assembled together by stakes 46, 48, or the segments may be welded along their edges 50. For purposes which shall be explained below, a triangular portion or cutout 52 is formed at the outer end of each angular segment 36-42, these triangular portions 52 being non-functional in that the holes 44 to secure the end plate 34 to conductor bars 32 are all contained within the remaining portions of each angular segment 36-42. Additionally, along the inner end of the radially extending edges 50 an annular portion 54 has been removed for purposes explained below, while still another annular portion 56 is used to form the edge which abuts the motor or generator shaft.

As best shown in FIG. 3, the angular segments 36-42 are all of the same shape and may be oriented as shown for forming, with Pole pieces 58 extending into the annular cutouts 54 (FIG. 2) and abutting the next adjacent angular segment. Thus, by removing the annular portions or cutouts 54, adjacent segments 36, 38 may be moved closer together to thereby minimize the waste material 60 remaining between them along their length dimension. Additionally, the triangular cutouts 52 are formed along the width dimension of each angular segment 36, 38, 40 such that the envelope defined by the dotted line drawn along the edge of the array of angular segments may be adjusted to make it possible for an even multiple of the envelope to fit across the width or length dimension of a standard sheet of raw material. As can be appreciated by viewing FIG. 3, the holes 44 all remain within the pattern such that the triangular portions 52 are comprised of substantially non-functional pieces of the angular segments 36, 38, 40. Therefore, depending upon the particular frame size and machine size, the widths of the envelope size shown in FIG. 3 can be adjusted. This represents a substantial savings in material over that which would be wasted by cutting the end plates 34 in one piece.

There are various changes and modifications which may be made to the invention as would be apparent to those skilled in the art. However, these changes or modifications are included in the teaching of the disclosure, and it is intended that the invention be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto. 

What is claimed is:
 1. In an amortisseur winding for a dynamoelectric machine, said amortisseur winding including a plurality of conductor bars physically connected to and extending between a pair of axially spaced end plates, said end plates being electrically conductive to electrically couple said conductor bars, the improvement comprising an improved end plate construction, at least one of said end plates comprised an assemblage of a plurality of separately formed arcuate segments, said arcuate segments being adapted for assembly into a disk-like shape, said segments being characterized by a substantially non-functional portion thereof oriented at least one side thereof as the segments are nested so that their width dimension can be adjusted without substantially affecting performance of said amortisseur winding waste as a plurality of said segments are laid out and formed from a sheet of raw material of predetermined width.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein each segment includes a portion containing a plurality of holes for receiving and securing the conductor bars, the substantially non-functional portion of said segments comprising portions thereof other than the hole portion.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein each segment has substantially radially extending edges along which adjacent segments are joined to form the completed end plate, said non-functional portion comprising substantially triangularly shaped portions positioned at the outer end of each of said radially extending edges.
 4. The device of claim 1 wherein substantially non-functional portions are oriented at two opposing sides of each segment so that the width of the segment may be adjusted at least one of said opposing sides.
 5. The device of claim 4 wherein each segment is of the same shape.
 6. The device of claim 5 wherein four segments are used to form the end plate.
 7. The device of claim 6 wherein both end plates are of said improved end plate construction.
 8. The device of claim 1 wherein each of said segments includes a generally annular portion with a pair of radially projecting pole portions at the sides thereof, said segments adapted to thereby nest so that the pole portions of one segment substantially abut the annular portion of an adjacent segment thereby minimizing waste as a plurality of said segments are laid out and formed from a sheet of raw material of pre-determined length.
 9. The device of claim 8 wherein said annular portion has means defining a pair of cutouts, said abutting pole portions extending into said cutouts as the adjacent segments are nested.
 10. The device of claim 9 wherein both end plates are of said improved end plate construction. 